City Manager | Fort Myers, Florida

Population: 70,918 (2014 Estimate)

Welcome to Fort Myers, the gateway to Southwest Florida. Rich in history, the City was founded in 1886 and has long been a popular tourist destination. It has a vibrant downtown while offering a high quality of life that is affordable. Recreational opportunities abound and cultural experiences are increasing in number. Further, it serves as the administrative center for Lee County (population 645,000).

Nestled along the shoreline of the Caloosahatchee River, the City is an exciting blend of Florida’s old and new. Thomas Edison and Henry Ford made Fort Myers their winter residences and their restored homes are now museums operated by the City. They

City Manager Position Open - Apply by November 23, 2015

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Fort Myers, Florida

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city as 10 colleges and universities are either in the City or nearby. Health care in the Fort Myers area is excellent and home to the Lee Memorial Health System, the sixth largest community-owned health system in the U.S.

For those who like to travel, Southwest Florida International Airport is an outstanding facility and with two (at most three) connections, you can be almost anywhere in North America, South America, Europe or the Pacific. Alternatively, drive two hours north to Tampa or east to Fort Lauderdale and Miami. All three offer more opportunities including some of the best cruise vacations in the world. Another great trip is to take the ferry from Fort Myers Beach to Key West.

What makes Fort Myers truly special is its residents! They are a friendly lot who take pride in their diversity. Neighbors know their neighbors and help each other.

All in all, Fort Myers offers much. Boasting an exceptional quality of life, residents have easy access to numerous recreation options, a thriving art and cultural scene and stunning natural venues. In other words, you too can live and work in paradise! So hurry and apply!

History

Ponce de Leon explored areas along Florida’s Gulf coast and probably Lee County in the early 1500s but left no lasting impression. Later, during the last half of the 1700s the coastal areas of Lee County were a base of operations for bands of pirates raiding the cargo ships sailing to and from the port of New Orleans.

Florida became a US Territory in 1821, and the ensuing wave of settlers asked for protection from the native Seminoles. Fort Myers was built along the Caloosahatchee River as one of the first bases of operations during the Seminole Indian Wars. By 1885 the city that sprang up around the old fort had grown to 349 and was the second largest town on Florida’s Gulf Coast south of Cedar Key.

Between 1898 and 1930, torrents of visitors from the

attract between 300,000 and 400,000 visitors annually. An extensive renovation of the downtown and waterfront was completed approximately six years ago and the result has been fresh energy and excitement in form of new restaurants and artistic venues.

Fort Myers is brimming with potential! Over $600 million of private development has taken place in the downtown core in the last eight years and at least another $600 million is expected in the next eight. In fact, $300 million is already permitted and is ready for construction to begin. This includes, among other things, a major new hotel, two new, significant condo towers and the repurposing of a very large, vacant, older hotel as a seniors residence.

For those who love the outdoors, Fort Myers is a paradise. The Caloosahatchee River connects to the Gulf of Mexico and the water constantly invites sailing, fishing (both fresh and salt water), kayaking, and other forms of boating. For a real adventure, take the Okeechobee Waterway across Florida to Stuart, FL, and the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the nation’s most popular beaches are within a very short drive. The world renowned Florida Everglades begin about 75 miles southeast of the City.

The Red Sox and Twins have their spring training facilities just outside the city limits. Fort Myers itself has numerous parks and an outstanding recreation program. Two excellent golf courses reside within the City limits and numerous others are located nearby.

The City offers wonderful music and theatrical venues including the Florida Repertory Theater, the Gulfshore Opera at the Barbara B. Manning Performing Arts Hall and the Southwest Florida Symphony.

Living in Fort Myers includes a wide range of options. For housing, choose from waterfront homes, gated communities and individual single family homes as well as high rise condos and apartments. The schools are strong, with Fort Myers High School recently ranking as one of the nation’s top 100. Higher education plays a large role in the

City Manager | Fort Myers, Florida

north flocked to Florida seeking winter residences and/or to make their fortunes in land investments. The opening of the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) linked Fort Myers to Tampa and Miami, contributed to the Big Boom in the 1920s.

During World War II, Florida became a popular place to train pilots due to the advantageous flying weather. Locally both Buckingham and Page Fields hosted thousands of servicemen, many of whom returned and became permanent residents.

In the years since World War II, the City and the rest of Southwest Florida has grown dramatically and Fort Myers has continued to serve as a regional hub. Table 1 on page 4 shows the City's population growth.

Demographics

2013 Census figures estimated Fort Myers’ population to be 64,488. Approximately 32% were age 24 and younger, 21% were between 25 to 40, 25% were between 40 to 60 and the 22% age were 60 and over. The median age is 38. Fifty-five percent of the population is classified as Caucasian, 32% African American and 2% Asian. The remaining 11% were classified as “some other race” or “two or more races.” Twenty percent of the population self-identified as Hispanic or Latino of any race. Owner-occupied housing units make up 43% of the housing. The average household size is 2.4 persons and the average family size is 3.0 persons. Of those persons 25 and older, 78% have a high school diploma and 22% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. The average family income is $55,773 with 20% of all families falling below the poverty level.

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City Manager | Fort Myers, Florida

Census Population

1890

1920

575

3,678

1950 13,195

1970

1980

27,351

36,638

1990 42,206

2000

2010

48,208

62,298

Average High ˚F

Average Low ˚F

Precipitation Inches

(category 4; 1960), Charley (category 4; 2004), and Wilma (category 3; 2005). Most category one (75 to 95 mph) and category two (95 to 110 mph) storms cause damage, but recovery is relatively quick. The higher category storms take a bit longer.

Geography

Fort Myers covers 40.4 square miles (31.8 square miles of land and 8.6 square miles of water). The terrain is relatively flat with a mean elevation of 20 feet above sea level. The City is located in Lee County in southwestern Florida near the Gulf of Mexico coast. The Caloosahatchee River forms the western boundary of the City. Cape Coral and North Fort Myers sit across the river to the north and west while unincorporated Lee County lies to the south and east.

Commerce

Fort Myers’ plays a key role in southwest Florida’s commerce. Known for businesses related to hospitality and retail, other segments of the economy actually play a larger role. See Table III on page 5.

The Government

The City’s vision for its future includes being known for its history, arts and culture; for being family friendly and safe; for having a vibrant downtown and thriving neighborhoods; and for offering an abundance of opportunities for economic prosperity and a relaxed life style.

The City operates under a council-manager form of government. The Council consists of a Mayor elected at-large and six council members elected by wards. All serve staggered, four year terms and elections are held in November of odd numbered years. The council seats were up for election this fall. In one case, the incumbent was unopposed. In the second case, the incumbent polled over 50% in the primary and hence was re-

Climate

Fort Myers’ climate falls under the category of “Humid Subtropical” which is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. Summers are usually somewhat wetter than winters, with much of the rainfall coming from thunderstorm activity. The coldest months are usually quite mild and frosts are infrequent. See Table II for more details.

Fort Myers is impacted by hurricanes from time to time, although they are relatively uncommon. Over the past 60 years, southwest Florida has been hit by three major storms – Hurricanes Donna

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Table II: Monthly Average Highs and Lows and Average Precipitation

Source: NOAA

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

75 77 80 85 89 92 93 92 91 87 81 77

54 56 59 63 69 74 75 75 74 69 62 56

1.9 2.2 2.9 2.2 2.7 10.1 9.0 10.1 8.3 2.9 2.0 1.7

Table I: Norwich Population Growth

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

City Manager | Fort Myers, Florida

Retail Trade

Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, Accomodation, Food Services

Construction

Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Rental & Leasing

Miscellanous

Information

Manufacturing

Public Administration

Other Services (Except Public Administration)

16

%

13

11

6

6

4

4

5

Educational, Health, Social services 19

12

4

Area

5

Table III: Principal Areas of Employment of Fort Myers Workforce

elected. The incumbent did not run for the third seat and a long standing member of the community will succeed him. The Council Members are bright and dedicated to doing what is best for their community. They are collegial and have a great deal of respect for the abilities of city staff. The Council appoints two officials: the City Manager (who is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the City) and the City Attorney.

The City provides traditional municipal services including Community Development, Engineering, Fire, Parks, Police, Recreation, Solid Waste, Streets, and Utilities (water and wastewater). It also operates a cemetery, an event center, museum, and a yacht basin, all as enterprise funds.

Approximately 44% of the City’s general operations are funded by Ad Valorem Taxes. For FY 2016, its General Fund budget is $94.0 million and its Total Budget is $298 million. The City maintains an undesignated General Fund balance of approximately 10%. The City’s FTE count in FY 2015 was 944, a decline of roughly 20% since FY 2008.

The Challenges

The challenges Fort Myers faces are not unusual. First, while it weathered the recession reasonably well and by no means is in financial distress, resources are tight. The next manager will need to continue the process of reviewing City operations to ensure that every dollar is spent wisely. The second significant issue is crime. While the City overall is reasonably safe, it has an urban core and suffers from gang violence and crime in its lower income neighborhoods. All the elected officials are very serious about finding solutions to this problem and are currently working with county and state

officials to bring additional resources to bear. They hope the next manager will be able to bring expertise with viable solutions to that area. The final issue is economic development. As noted, approximately six years ago, the City completed a downtown redevelopment project and a great deal of redevelopment is already underway. Still more can and needs to be done to make Fort Myers the great city its residents envision.

The Ideal Candidate

Fort Myers is seeking a strong, energetic, proactive leader who is passionate about his/her job and who will work with the Council to make this City the jewel of Southwestern Florida. Fort Myers has unlimited potential. It simply needs an individual to implement the vision of the elected officials and the community. That will involve doing the hard work of analyzing problems, developing options, advising/educating the public and following through. The manager will build consensus and keep the Council fully informed. There will be no surprises. When the Manager

Source: infoplease.com

City Manager | Fort Myers, Florida 6

Instead, he/she will expect to be informed, insist deadlines be met and hold staff members accountable for results.

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, public policy or related field, and seven to ten years of increasingly responsible experience as a senior level government executive. A Master’s degree is preferred. Expertise and a successful track record in economic development, financial management and crime reduction are important. Florida experience is helpful but not mandatory.

Compensation The salary range is $140,000 to $200,000. Benefits are excellent.

The Most Recent City Manager

The most recent City Manager retired after 8 years with the City. It is anticipated that one or more internal candidates will apply.

Residency

Ideally the City Manager will reside in the City. He/she may, however, reside outside the City limits with permission of the City Council.

How to Apply

E-mail your resume to Recruit42@cb-asso.com by November 23rd. Faxed and mailed resumes will not be considered. Questions should be directed to Colin Baenziger at (561) 707-3537 or David Collier at (772) 260-1858.

The Process  Applications will be screened between November 24th and January 6th. Finalists will be selected on January 12th. A reception and interviews will be held on January 21st and 22nd. A selection will be made shortly thereafter.

makes a decision of consequence, he/she will inform the elected body before carrying it out. The individual will also be confident enough to tell the Council when he/she feels the course it is about to pursue is unwise.

The individual will be someone who takes a fresh look at the government, always looking for ways to improve processes and services. The Manager will be a problem solver with a holistic perspective. The ideal candidate will recognize trends, anticipate outcomes and take action to ameliorate situations before they become dilemmas. He/she will acknowledge that bureaucracy has its place while realizing it is not applicable in every situation and at times needs to be overruled by common sense. When faced with an issue, the individual will fix the problem.

The Manager will engage the community and be an ambassador for the City. Many residents have enormous talent and want to contribute. The individual will recognize their abilities and find ways to apply these additional resources to challenges the City faces.

The ideal candidate will be a people person with outstanding communications skills. The individual will be open minded, listen carefully and evaluate every situation before acting. At the same time, he/she will be decisive. Much needs to be done, so the Manager will not dilly dally. Customer service will be important to the Manager and he/she will lead by example. Customers are not always right but need to be treated with dignity and respect. They will appreciate a good faith effort in finding a solution to their problems. He/she will realize the community values reliability and predictability. The individual will believe strongly in transparency and be very comfortable with the media.

The next City Manager will understand human behavior and motivation. He/she will be a mentor and encourage the staff members to realize their full potential. The ideal candidate will be firm and fair with a good sense of humor. The manager will set expectations, provide resources, step back and let employees do their jobs. The individual will be collaborative and a team builder, not a micromanager.

City Manager | Fort Myers, Florida7

Confidentiality

Under Florida law, all applications are a public record upon submission. Generally speaking, the press does not publish an article until after the closing and often not until the semi-finalists are named.

Other Important Information The City of Fort Myers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages women, minorities and veterans to apply. Under the Florida Public Records Act, all applications are subject to disclosure upon receipt. A veteran’s preference will be awarded if applicable under Florida law. Additional Information

For additional information about Fort Myers, visit: www.cityftmyers.com.